


Tongue Of Silver, Heart Of Gold

by Bass_Line



Category: Six - Marlow/Moss
Genre: F/F, I didn't include the pairings because it's supposed to be a 'surprise', I included every character mentioned in the story in the character list except Henry, The main pairing is very obvious based on the title alone though, Then the other pairings weren't mentioned to hide the surprise, Used some of the Sixtended Verse OCs for this, school!au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-05
Updated: 2021-01-05
Packaged: 2021-03-15 23:20:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,390
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28572150
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bass_Line/pseuds/Bass_Line
Summary: Catalina receives a letter from a secret admirer, thus starting a search while trying her best to do something about her own feelings for someone else.
Comments: 3
Kudos: 29





	Tongue Of Silver, Heart Of Gold

**Author's Note:**

> As mentioned, I've used some Sixtended Verse OCs found on Tumblr in this story. Below are the owners of the respective characters.
> 
> Arthur Tudor belongs to @djts-arts  
> Anne 'Anya' Askew belongs to @thenicestnonbinary  
> Amalia of Cleves belongs to @pandora-dusk  
> Elizabeth 'EB' Barton belongs to @spooner7308  
> Hans Holbein the Younger belongs to @redlover411  
> Henry Percy belongs to @chimkennumget  
> Jane Parker belongs to @altairtalisman (AKA me)

"Okay, who put this here?!" Catalina asked her class, waving about a gold envelope in the air. The class remained silent, none of them had the answer to their teacher's question. "No one's going to own up? Fine, I'm reading it for everyone to hear! Let's see how you like having your confession being heard to the whole class!"

_'... She's a damn sadist.'_ The class thought in unison, flinching as Catalina ripped the envelope open and pulled out a letter from it. Catalina smirked as she opened the letter, preparing to read out the contents of the letter.

"Dear Catalina, I'm not at all bold, but I just _had_ to let you know that I simply adore the curls in your hair and the brilliant smile you grace me each day. Love, your secret admirer. Ha! How does it feel for your confession to be exposed?!" Catalina smirked, her face falling as she re-read the letter again. The class remained silent, they were divided into two camps. One camp pitied their teacher for accidentally announcing to the class that she had a secret admirer, while the other camp felt that Catalina deserved it for accusing them of writing a confession letter. "WHICH ONE OF YOU BRATS TRIED TO PLAY A PRANK ON ME?!"

"Um... Ms Catalina?" One of the students timidly raised up her hand, her eyes cast on the floor. Catalina turned to glare at her, immediately suspecting her of sending her the letter. "N-None of us wrote that... it was already here when we arrived..."

"That still doesn't change that _someone_ has written this to make a fool of me!" Catalina snapped, her eyes widening in realisation. The class shrank further into their seats, they knew that whenever their Spanish teacher had a certain look in her eyes, there was no stopping her. "Anne _fucking_ Boleyn, I should've known! When I see that bitch, she'll-"

"Yoooooo, I kinda need some help over here?" As if on cue, Anne entered the classroom and turned around such that her back was exposed to Catalina and the class. "Anyways Cataina, get this! Kitty fucking forgot to wake me up for work today! Like, we're fucking living together, the least you could do is to wake me up and not leave me alone to zip myself up in this sexy as fuck dress!"

Catalina stormed towards Anne, zipping up Anne's dress with such force that even the French teacher knew something was up. She glanced over to the class, hoping to get a hint from the students to why Catalina was in such a bad mood that morning. The class was terrified by Catalina, none of them dared to tell her that Catalina had a secret admirer and was about to accuse Anne for pulling a prank on her.

"Is pretending to be my secret admirer you idea of a prank Boleyn?" Catalina hissed into Anne's ear, sending shivers down the latter's spine. Sure, she had swapped Catalina's hand cream with hand sanitiser, but apart from that, she wouldn't do something as cruel as to pretend to be her secret admirer. "If so, colour me _very_ amused."

"Secret admirer?! Why the fuck will I do something as cruel as that?! I draw the line at toying with people's feelings, you know that Catalina!"

"Haha, very funny. Only _you_ would do such a thing."

"... Or maybe someone in this school _actually_ has a crush on you?" Anne feebly suggested, acutely aware of the hands placed around her neck. She whimpered as a pregnant pause hung in the end, which ended with Catalina's hands slithering away from her neck. _'Oh thank god, she finally believes that someone's in love with her.'_

"Anne Boleyn, be honest with me. Are you in love with me?"

"Why is it that I'm always your first suspect for everything?! It's just like last night when you accused me of being the imposter when it's _clearly_ Anna!"

* * *

Catalina grumbled, making her way to her office with the letter in hand. Thanks to the letter, she didn't manage to conduct her lesson and spent the whole two hours trying to narrow down her suspects. The class didn't mind, they had taken the initiative and held a self-study session of their own without Catalina instructing them to do so. She kicked open the door, swearing in Spanish at the pain spreading through her foot. The Chemistry teacher, Jane Seymour, perked up and went over to fuss over the teacher.

"Are you alright? What did that door ever do to you, other than being a complete knob of course." Catalina mustered up a smile, Jane's presence was a balm to the pain she experienced. She had a crush on the Chemistry teacher for at least two years now, but she could never work up the courage to confess. The farthest she had gone was to practice confessing to Katherine Howard, the school's counsellor and also Anne's roommate who was also her cousin.

"Is that another pun on your part, or do you also have a grudge with the door?"

"Yes." Jane cheekily grinned, playing with Catalina's curls. Catalina could feel her cheeks warming up at the action, and all she hoped was for Jane to never stop. Unfortunately for her, Jane brought her hand away 30 seconds later. "But seriously, what's wrong?"

"Some twat's fucking with my feelings." Catalina waved the letter in front of Jane, who raised her eyebrows at the Spanish teacher's comment. "Boleyn has the theory that it's an _actual_ secret admirer, but I'm not putting it past the school faculty trying to fuck me over."

"I'm personally inclined to believe Anne." Jane replied, draping her arms across Catalina's shoulders. Catalina nearly short-circuited, she had half the mind to thank the secret admirer for making Jane initiate more intimate actions with her. "You're a catch after all, I wouldn't put it past others to admire you from afar."

"Are you one of them?"

"Oh please, I think we both know that I'm not subtle when it comes to admiring you." They shared a chuckle, but Catalina wished that Jane meant it in a romantic light. The whole faculty was aware that when Jane first started teaching, Catalina was there to show her the ropes and help her out when necessary. Hence, it was no shocker to everyone that Jane admired Catalina. The door rattled open, with Catherine standing at the entrance. Jane had a rueful smile and allowed her hands to drop back to her side, with Catherine realising that she had interrupted a moment. "Cathy, welcome back! How was your English class?"

"I had Literature earlier, and uh... I can go somewhere else if you two are busy discussing...?" Catherine corrected, taking a step back and was about to leave the teachers' office to leave the two teachers to it. Catalina shook her head, beckoning her inside. "You sure? I wouldn't want to interrupt..."

"Not at all Ms Parr, I believe Jane's about to head out for her lesson anyways." Jane beamed, delighted that Catalina has her lesson schedule memorised. Catherine nodded slowly, stepping aside so that Jane could head out for her lesson. "Try not to make any chemicals explode!"

"Haha! Jokes on you, I'm making alkalis explode today with the class! See you at Anna's!" Catalina sighed, smiling faintly as Jane left the office. Catherine simply stared at Catalina, a look of disbelief crossing her face.

"... I'm concerned that Ms Seymour ending up at the nurse's office is a sure thing."

* * *

Catalina was in Anna's office waiting for Jane to arrive, with the school nurse expressing the same concern as Catherine. Catalina shrugged it off, insisting that it was an inside joke that she shared with the Chemistry teacher. Anna shrugged, and went about with her duties as the school nurse, which was to stare at the door and hope that no one arrived with an injury for her to deal with.

"Anna, I need your advice on something."

"Sure, what is it?"

"Should I reject my secret admirer outright or should I let it continue on so that I can find out who they are and _then_ reject them?" Anne gave Catalina a deadpan look, word had gotten around the school that Catalina had received a letter from a secret admirer which stirred the interest of everyone, students and teachers alike. "What?!"

"Girl, why is rejection your only option?"

"Because I'm definitely not in love with them? Okay look, I'm not gonna date someone who's too afraid to confess outright!"

"Says the woman who always chickens out when it comes to Jane, eat your own words bitch." Catalina flipped Anna off, re-reading her letter once more. It was a handwritten letter, and under the assumption that none of the students wrote it to her, that left the teachers as suspects. Catalina sighed, there were lots of teachers to rule out. "I heard it was romantic."

"Would be nice if Jane's my secret admirer. That way, I can stop worrying about whether or not she's into women."

"... Why is _that_ your concern? Also, just ask her out for drinks already." Anna suggested, the door rattling open. Jane entered the office, with Anna fussing over her under the impression that she was injured. "Please _don't_ tell me it's a chemical burn. I've dealt with EB earlier and her fingers don't look pretty after she accidentally bashed them with something..."

"I'm just here to see Lina, though a few beakers were casualties..." Jane replied with a wink, with Anna sighing at the thought of Joan having to sweep up the mess made in the chemistry lab. She pitied the cleaner, Jane had a history of creating some sort of mess during her lessons. Catalina sighed dreamily, somehow the thought of broken beakers had sparked her interest. "Hi Lina, how's that investigation going? You're a hot topic with my class by the way."

"I've narrowed it down to the teachers, and it's a handwritten note so it'll be easier."

"Are you hoping to be anyone specific?" Catalina wanted to reply that she wanted Jane to be her secret admirer, but she didn't want to risk scaring the Chemistry teacher away. Hence, she simply shrugged and replied that she didn't have anyone specific in mind. "Just remember Lina, it's okay to reject them if you're just not into them in any form. Admiration is great, but respecting people is even sexier."

"Have I ever said that you sound sexy?"

"You're such a flatterer!" Jane jokingly swatted Catalina's shoulder, while Anna rolled her eyes at the exchange. Why were the two teachers even flirting with each other in _her_ office anyways? Anna groaned, she wanted to leave her office and leave them to it, but couldn't as she had a duty as the school nurse. "Is your secret admirer just as silver-tongued as you?"

"I hardly think that I'm good at flattery."

"I'm begging the both of you, please get the fuck out of my office."

* * *

"Thanks Kat!" Catalina said as she left Katherine's office with a small stack of paper in hand. The student counsellor sent the Spanish teacher off, wondering why did she need all the handwritings of all the teachers in school. Katherine shrugged, returning to her office to deal with administrative duties. Catalina brought the stack of papers to her next class and announced that it was a self-study session, with the class cheering at the independence granted to them. _'Should I just look through the teachers who might have a crush on me?'_

"Hey sexy-" Before they could finish their sentence, they were slapped by Catalina, who had absolutely zero desire to put up with her colleague's bullshit. "What the fuck Catalina?! First you threatened me in the morning, and now you slapped me?! You owe me _so_ many apologies."

"Get a life Boleyn, I'm very busy here." Anne scoffed, all she saw was Catalina trying to figure out whose handwriting matched her love letter. She wasn't even teaching, though to her credit, her current class was also just as well-behaved as the first.

"I'll think about it maybe, XO-" Anne winced, a second slap delivered to her other cheek. The class tittered at the sight, humiliating Anne. She made it a point to make their lives a living hell until the end of the day, how could they laugh at her when _she_ wasn't the one who publicly announced that she had a secret admirer? Anne flipped the class off, it was unprofessional but she didn't care. She cared more about Catalina's secret admirer, and made no pains to hide it. "Okay but real talk, have you figured it out yet?"

"Not yet, I'll just go with the safe route and look through everyone's. That includes you, as much as I don't want to date you."

"Uh, ouch? Hey, real talk. What if Arthur's your secret admirer? Are you two gonna...?" Catalina sighed, Anne had brought up a very real possibility. She had dated Arthur before, and while they parted on relatively good terms, she had the feeling that Arthur still harboured feelings for her. To his credit, Catalina dated his younger brother Henry while he was in a coma after getting into an accident, and the first thing he learnt after waking up was that his girlfriend had dated his brother _from_ said brother. Needless to say, Arthur refused to speak to him ever again.

"If that's the case, I'll gently let him down that while I loved him before, I no longer hold any romantic feelings for him. It's like what they say, secondary school sweethearts never last."

"Are you telling me that I'm gonna divorce Percy at some point?! You better take responsibility for breaking Lizzie's heart as well as ours!"

"... Oh shit, I forgot that you're already married to someone."

"Are you fucking kidding me?! I thought you were just joking about me being your secret admirer!"

* * *

Catalina groaned, it had been three days and she still hadn't figure out who was her secret admirer. She had received more letters from them, it was pretty clear that it was going to be a daily thing with the exception of the weekends. Jane had invited her over to hang out and take a break from marking homework, something which Catalina immediately jumped on. If she had to see _one_ more student using the wrong Spanish terms in greetings, she would either flip a table or shred their homework. Possibly both.

Catalina was left alone to play with Edward while his mother was preparing the biscuits she had made for the occasion, with the boy asking if Mary could come over next time. Catalina laughed, replying that she would ask her daughter later. Jane left the kitchen with a plate of biscuits in hand, and informed them that they had to wash their hands before eating. They both grumbled at Jane's words, with said woman threatening to take their biscuits away if they don't wash their hands. Needless to say, both Edward and Catalina did.

Jane chuckled at the sight of a grown woman racing with a boy to the kitchen, sighing dreamily at the thought of Catalina making herself very much at home. She wondered if Mary liked her at all, she wasn't sure about the young teenager's feelings towards her biological father's 'sidepieces'. Jane knew that she tolerated Edward, which meant a lot coming from a teen who was going through puberty and teen drama. They soon returned to the living room, hands barely dried as they reached out for the biscuits Jane had made.

The two adults laughed as Edward scarfed down as many biscuits as he could eat, while Catalina nibbled away on one. Jane popped one of the biscuits into her mouth, frowning slightly as she had realised that she had added a tad too much sugar. Catalina noticed and made her way towards the sofa Jane was seated on, sitting beside her shortly after.

"What's wrong?"

"I realised that I fucked up the sugar measurements."

"Mum has to put a pound into the swear jar!" Edward declared, with Jane swearing under her breath at her son's reminder. "Mum! At this rate, we can take a short holiday! Swear more Mum! Call Aunt Boleyn with that b-word like you did last week!"

"Pfffft, you called Boleyn a bitch with Ed around?"

"In my defence, he overheard me calling Anne that during a call. Now fork up a pound for our holiday money." Jane smirked, with Catalina quirking an eyebrow at her crush's comment. Edward was cheering while stuffing his mouth with biscuits, hoping for the day that his mother would invite both of his aunts over so that they could contribute much more money to the swear jar. "My house, my rules and you don't want to be a bad role model to Eddie, would you?"

"Guilt-tripping me? How dare you Jane!" Catalina teased, pulling out a pound from her purse and waving it for the Seymours to see. She handed it over to Jane, who made her way to the swear jar on a table and dropped it in along with her own money. Edward clapped, he was very much looking forward to going on a holiday with his mother and hopefully Catalina. Jane lightly swatted Catalina's shoulder, giggling at her teasing. "You see that Jane? Ed's fucking laughing at you!"

"Yaaaaay! I wanna go to the beach!"

* * *

"Hey Arthur, can we talk?" It had been a week since Catalina had received the first letter from her secret admirer, and she had received even more since then. They were usually compliments, with the latest one being a meaningful quote Arthur had once used when he was still officially dating Catalina. She knew that it wasn't in his handwriting, but she was doing it to reassure herself and to strike off a suspect from her list. The PE teacher looked up and grinned, jogging over to her across the track. "So... you know about my secret admirer right?"

"Sure do, the kids can't stop talking about you! They were even placing bets on who's your secret admirer!" Arthur recounted, chuckling at the conversation his students had earlier during his class. While he did his duty as a teacher and shut that conversation down, he personally would like to place a bet on the identity of Catalina's secret admirer. "Oh, speaking of which! Anne's been telling us that you're going on a witch hunt for them!"

"The fuck? Calling it a witch hunt is _way_ too much of a stretch." Catalina relaxed slightly, Arthur always made her feel at ease unlike Henry, who always made her feel on edge. To think that he had the gall to cheat on her with Anne, and to have Elizabeth when he was already married. Thankfully for Anne, her social networks were all great support systems. "Look Arthur, I'm just going to get straight to the point. Are you my secret admirer?"

"Cat, I wouldn't do that to you. You've turned me down once, and I respect that. It's true that I still think about what could've been had it not been for that damn accident, but you've already moved on and you deserve someone who you're romantically interested in." Arthur didn't blame Catalina for suspecting him, he was the only teacher in school who had a romantic history with her after all. If anything, he was surprised that she didn't confront him the second she received the letter that started it all. "Anyways, you can strike me off that list of yours now! How many do you have left?"

"Too many to count. I really just want to narrow it down to people I interact with often, but I have to be thorough."

"This is one of the many things I like about you, be it platonically or romantically."

"Ha! Tell that to that prick you're unfortunately related to, he thinks I'm too fussy. Why the fuck I ever thought to date him was beyond my understanding, thank the lord that he's banned from seeing Mary." Arthur cracked his knuckles, silently offering to beat his brother up once more. Catalina dismissed his offer with a wave of her hand, with Arthur nodding in acknowledgement. "... So who did your class bet on?"

"I'm not entirely sure actually, had to do the right thing and stop them since betting is not allowed on campus and all."

"Figures, and here I thought I can take advantage of the students' tendencies to break the rules."

"Anne's certainly been rubbing off you I see."

"Oh hush, I'm just thinking out of the box."

* * *

Catalina sighed, reading the 14th letter she had received. So far, she had gleaned that her secret admirer was fairly silver-tongued yet possessing a heart of gold. Why else would the contents of the latest letter be enquiring her about her well-being after she had gotten herself chewed out by an unreasonable parent? This was why she dreaded parent-teacher meetings, Catalina had realised in her first year as a teacher that some parents were more entitled than the students themselves, and that decent students could have pricks for parents.

She started to feel bad for the secret admirer, she knew that she was unable to fall in love with someone whose face she didn't know. She also felt that confessing behind anonymity was a cowardly move, and a huge turn off for her. Yet, she couldn't help but smile at the letters she received daily without fail. Strangely enough, all the letters reminded her of Jane and she could visualise Jane complimenting her or encouraging her.

"Oh, you're still at it?" Catherine peered over Catalina's shoulder, curious to the contents of the letter as a reader rather as someone who was interested in her colleague's love life. Catalina turned the letter over such that Catherine wasn't able to read it, which disappointed her as she had already finished reading all of the books she owned and was actually waiting for the book she had reserved at the library to get back to her. "I'm desperate to read something, _anything_."

"Go read a textbook then. Maria has a _lovely_ Maths textbook for you to feast your eyes on."

"We both know that those sums frustrate me."

"Exactly why I suggested it Ms Parr." Catalina replied, eyeing the English cum Literature teacher with interest. Could it be possible that she had an interest in her? Catalina doubted it, but her policy was to suspect everyone unless proven otherwise. "Can you show me your handwriting?"

"Which one? Left hand or right hand? Relaxed, rushing a deadline, or marking exams? Gel or ballpoint?" Catherine asked, a sincere question that caught Catalina off-guard. The Spanish teacher sighed, muttering about how Catherine was fulfilling every single stereotype about English teachers known to humans. "... You _did_ ask after all..."

"Which is your dominant hand?"

"Left."

"If you're writing a letter as a secret admirer, how would you feel?"

"Relaxed yet stressed?"

"Right, tell me whether this is written in gel ink or ballpoint." Catalina reluctantly showed her colleague the letter, and instantly her eyes shone with great interest. Catalina had a hard time refusing Catherine given her earnestness, in the first place, the fact that Catherine had more than two handwriting styles was beyond her.

"Ballpoint. Do you have a piece of paper? Any kind would do." Catalina handed her one of her students' assignments, it was the only other paper medium she had apart from her letters, and she was obviously not going to let the teacher demonstrate her handwriting on them. Catherine wrote a sentence out on the paper, handing it back to Catalina once she was done.

"Dear lord, please don't tell me that this is your best handwriting." Catalina grimaced, apparently the stereotype that anyone who studied or taught Literature had terrible handwriting was true in Catherine's case. The English teacher blinked, nodding confidently. "I think Ms Blount's holding a class on how to write neatly next Friday at 5 pm. You really should attend that class."

"And I would rather you keep your insults to yourself, but sometimes we don't get what we want. Do we, Ms Catalina?"

"Still doesn't change the fact that your handwriting sucks and is thankfully not the same as my secret admirer's."

* * *

"You do realise that I'm a _student_ counsellor and not a general one right?" Katherine asked Catalina, who was currently looking through the handwriting samples she had received two weeks ago. She had finally looked through half of the samples, and so far none of them were a match. Catalina had approached Katherine for 'counselling purposes', but the latter suspected that Catalina just needed a space to look through the samples without being interrupted. "I'm so tired... I can't believe I don't do much as a counsellor."

"Good for you, why are you even in this field when you hate kids?"

"They're teenagers, and I need money. Have you tried financially depending on Annie for years?! You'll feel like shit even though all she wants to do is to spoil you!"

"... I'm not gonna touch that tin of worms." Catalina replied, she wasn't going to get involved in Katherine's insecurities when it came to finances. Katherine shrugged, she didn't hold it against her for not wanting to listen to her rant about money. Catalina scrutinised a handwriting sample, her eyebrows furrowed with frustration as she tried to make out the words. "Okay, who the fuck has handwriting shittier than Ms Parr?!"

"Cathy's handwritings are great, you shut the fuck up." Katherine quipped, reaching out to pluck the letter from Catalina's hands. She scanned through the words in the sample, crumpling up into a ball and tossing it back to Catalina afterwards. "That belongs to EB."

"... Was her handwriting always that shitty? Like... do all History teachers have shit handwriting or...?"

"I have _no_ idea, all I know is that Joan's one of the few people who can _actually_ read that shit. I'm just guessing the content, but the lines belongs to EB alright." Catalina groaned, making a note to suggest to Joan to subtly convince her girlfriend to improve her handwriting. Catalina smoothed out the paper ball and placed it with the stack of letters she had looked through, looking through another one. "Oh hey, that's Anna's!"

"I'm resisting the urge to make a rude comment." Catalina remarked, looking through Anna's sample. It wasn't that her handwriting wasn't neat, in fact it was clear and legible. The only thing was that it reminded Catalina of handwritings female pre-teens liked to adopt in an attempt to be unique, loops and all. Seeing an adult writing like that caught her off-guard, even more so as it was the complete opposite of Anna's appearance. "Nope. Not saying it. Not looking at it. Burning it out from my eyes."

"By the way, what did you secret admirer say this time?"

"They shared a joke with me, as well as asking me to save them a dance during prom."

"Oh, you're one of the chaperones? That sucks, staying in school on a Friday night while watching students sneaking alcohol into the punch bowl." Katherine commented, idly looking through her phone to scroll through her social media. Catalina sighed, she was thankful that her secret admirer wasn't asking her to accompany them to the school prom as a date. She wondered if it meant that they were also one of the unlucky teachers who were forcefully assigned to be a chaperone for the students, or if they were attending the event as a guest. "How the fuck would you know who they are though?"

"I have no idea, our communication is just one-way. I don't even have a way to thank them for all the letters they send!"

"Bloody hell, you're a complete disaster. That aside, are you asking Jane to be your date?"

"She's also on chaperone duty for prom, and so are most of the people we're close to."

"Hmm, maybe I should show up just to laugh at you guys."

"For a counsellor, you're pretty bitchy."

"Aw, that's the nicest thing I've heard all day!"

* * *

"JANE! WHAT THE FUCK?!" The door swung open, with a furious Catalina standing at the doorway. The woman in the room flinched, freezing in place as Catalina's eyes flashed murderously. "I CAN'T BELIEVE _YOU'RE_ MY SECRET ADMIRER!"

"S-Surprise...?" The woman, Jane Parker, feebly replied while making a congratulatory wave of her hands. She winced, fully prepared for Catalina to murder her. Catalina wanted to murder her, but given that she was close to Anne, the trouble that would come shortly after was too much for her to deal with. Instead, she sighed heavily. "So... please don't reject me harshly?"

"Why did you even bother sending me all those letters when you know that I'll reject you?! Also, aren't you dating Anna's sister?!"

"Um... I kind of just wanted you to cheer up because you look pretty burnt out whenever I see you...? Please don't tell Mali about the whole-"

"Done, looks like I'll be seeing you at prom." Catalina exited the room, narrowly dodging Amalia on her way out. The latter entered the Physics lab, a wide smiled plastered on her face as she draped her arms across Jane's shoulders. The Physics teacher let out a huge sigh, allowing Amalia to bring her closer to the German teacher.

"I heard the whole thing liebling, good job on not revealing who her _actual_ secret admirer is." Jane's shoulders sagged, she really wasn't expecting Catalina to confront her that early, she thought that she had at least one more week according to the updates provided by Katherine. "What surprised me even more is that she's willing to save you a dance."

"Do I _have_ to go though? I'm already forced to be on the decorating committee..."

"Don't you want to dance with me?" Amalia batted her eyes at her girlfriend, her heart becoming putty in Amalia's hands. She giggled as she brushed a thumb against Jane's rosy red cheeks, her thumb resting gently on Jane's lips. "I've been looking forward to prom for so many months now..."

"A-Anything for you Mali..." Jane gulped, her blue eyes darting about as Amalia pressed her body against her own. She could feel the warmth radiating from her girlfriend's lithe frame, and would have wrapped her arms around Amalia's waist had it not been for Catalina's actual secret admirer poking their head in and interrupting the moment. "You caused me a lot of trouble."

"I can't use my own handwriting, she'll figure me out instantly!" The secret admirer replied, grey eyes sparkling with amusement at the positions of the two teachers. "Speaking of which... didn't the principal warn you two to keep your hands off each other?"

"Ahaha, well... if you keep _our_ secret, we'll keep yours." Amalia playfully stuck out her tongue, and brought her face closer to Jane's. Jane almost fainted at her girlfriend's teasing, while the secret admirer rolled their eyes and left the couple alone to flirt. Amalia stared into Jane's blue eyes, and pressed a brief kiss onto her cheek instead of her lips. "I'll leave you alone with your stars, don't confuse those poor students with those vectors now~"

"Mali, wait-" Too late, Amalia had skipped out of the lab, humming a song as she did so. Jane sighed, making her way to the back of the lab and arranging the glass blocks she was planning to use for a Physics experiment later. She wanted to stop helping the secret admirer to write their letters, but she had already promised them to help until prom, which was a week away. Sighing, she stared up at the constellation charts she had decorated the lab with, hoping that Catalina wouldn't be _too_ angry at her once the secret admirer revealed themselves. _'Why did I even agree to do this...?'_

* * *

Jane Seymour approached Catalina, gliding her finger across Catalina's shoulders which brought her away from her confused disappointment. She sighed, which captured Jane's attention and prompted her to take a seat beside the Spanish teacher. Catalina didn't know why a part of her wanted her crush to be her secret admirer, and why she was crushed when she found out that the wrong Jane had been sending her letters.

"What's wrong love?"

"Well... I found out who's my secret admirer, and out of respect, she'll remain anonymous."

"Oh, how do you feel knowing that a woman has been crushing on you?" Jane asked, a question that Catalina found it as strange. Jane tilted her head in a way that expressed her confusion in the most adorable way possible, in Catalina's personal opinion of course.

"I mean, I swing both ways so the gender isn't a problem... It's just... can I be completely honest with you Jane?" Catalina would _never_ admit it, but Anne was the first woman to make her question her sexuality before Jane came along and confirmed that Catalina liked women just as much as she liked men. The worst part was that Anne knew it, but never once mentioned it. "There's already someone that I'm interested in."

"And you've been holding it out on me? Why Lina, I never thought that I'll see the day that _you_ of all people will keep secrets from me!" Jane teased, running her fingers through Catalina's curls. Catalina was oblivious to the regretful expression Jane had, with her tone the sole indicator to interpret Jane's feelings. Jane continued to play with Catalina's hair, her words abruptly tumbling out shortly after. "Will you be my prom date? We're both on chaperone duty, might as well right?"

"Hm? Of course!" Catalina cheerfully replied, hiding her fear of rejection in her heart. Was it even right to confess to Jane? _Should_ she even confess to Jane? When it came to the subject of Jane, Catalina experienced both delight and worry. She had long reasoned that Jane would never be interested in her, hence she was able to enjoy Jane's company without any worry. But now... "We're best friends after all!"

"... Yeah, exactly that!" Jane forced a smile as she removed her hand from Catalina's hair, the latter whining at the removal. Jane chuckled softly, leaning to whisper in Catalina's ear. "I'll be dressed in silver, save me a dance will you?"

"Anything for you Jane."

* * *

"Mum, do I really have to stay over at Liz's place?" Catalina's daughter, Mary, whined upon hearing that she was going to spend the night with her half-siblings at Anne's place. Catalina affirmed Mary's worry, and glared at her before her daughter could throw a tantrum. Mary shrank, muttering about how at least Percy was a fun person to be with. They made their way to the flat unit Anne was staying at, and was greeted by said woman decked in a shimmering green dress. "Dear lord, I know you've yote your intelligence out of the window years ago, but did you have to include your fashion sense?!"

"First of all sweetheart-"

"Don't call me that. Mum, tell her she can't call me that."

"Boleyn, you have my permission to call my daughter a sweetheart for the rest of the night."

"Mum, what the heckity heck?!" Both adults rolled their eyes, they could never understand why Mary wanted to censor herself. Even Catalina swore, which said a lot as it was only until recently (really six years ago) that she broke away from the 'good Catholic girl' stereotype of not swearing. "I hate you!"

"Oh my god, stop being such a drama queen. You're like what, 14? Newsflash sweetheart, someday when your mum gets heart cancer, you're gonna regret telling her that." Catalina frowned, she didn't like it when Anne went around threatening her daughter that she would die from heart cancer. She was okay with the threatening part, she simply didn't like to use _cancer_ of all possible illnesses as her way to go. "By the way, it's yeeted. Yote exists as a word on its own."

"We're going to be late, so stop arguing with my daughter already." Mary stuck out her tongue at Anne, and proceeded inside the unit. Catalina sighed, hoping that Mary wouldn't get into a fight with Elizabeth. Anne started posing to irritate her colleague, and Catalina swiftly turned her back on Anne. "You know what, I'm going to school myself."

"Sheesh, lighten up will you?" Anne ran after Catalina, the latter scoffing in response. They got into Catalina's car, with Anne requesting to drive. Catalina immediately shot Anne down, the last time she had driven a car, she had gotten herself a speeding ticket as well as a night in jail for attempting to bribe the police officer. "You're a buzzkill."

"I don't want to be your accomplice should you attempt to bribe an officer."

"That was _one_ time!"

* * *

Catalina and Anne entered the gymnasium where prom was being held, both of them expressing surprise at the decorations. Truthfully speaking, almost everyone had expected the prom to be a bust and had extremely low expectations towards the event. Thus, the sight of the decorations being tastefully placed as well as appropriate music filling the air blew the attendees away. Catalina noticed her 'secret admirer' skulking about near the refreshments, and Catalina excused herself from Anne to approach her.

"Jane, you're on the deco comm right?" Said teacher nodded, her face paler than it already was as Catalina genuinely smiled at her effort. "You did a wonderful job, though it now means that we can't escape if we wanted to."

"The exits aren't blocked though, people can still come and go as they please. Take Barton for one, she just left with Joan to make out in what I _think_ is the supply room." Jane replied, glancing nervously between Catalina and the punch bowl. She just wanted to get a drink after spending the past six hours decorating the gymnasium with Hans and Anya, the latter being less than helpful as she simply barked out orders for her and Hans to comply. "Do you want a drink?"

"Before that, I believe I owe you a dance?" Jane flinched, mentally cursing Catalina's real secret admirer for the turn of events. She nodded nonetheless, and was led into a dance by the Spanish teacher. Jane was relieved that it wasn't a romantic song, the last thing she wanted was for the real secret admirer to be jealous. "I'm surprised that you continued to send me letters after I rejected you."

"Like I said... I wanted to cheer you up. We're... colleagues?"

"You don't consider me a friend?"

"I don't want to overstep any possible boundaries." Jane replied as she twirled Catalina around, the latter giggling to indicate that she was just teasing. Jane glanced to the side, grey eyes boring holes into her as she continued to dance with Catalina. "You know... you're dancing with the wrong Jane."

"... Is it really that obvious?" Catalina sighed, sometimes she had forgotten that Jane Parker was actually perceptive, just that she usually chose to hide her insights. Jane nodded, groaning as the DJ on duty (who was Margaret) started to play a slow song that was basically oozing with romance. "She doesn't like me, not in the way I do."

"Good evening Ms Parker, mind if I cut in?" Catalina's heart skipped a beat as her crush stepped in between them, dressed in a silver cocktail dress that shimmered when light hit. The Physics teacher nodded a tad too gratefully and scurried away from the dance floor, most likely heading for the punch bowl. The Chemistry teacher smiled warmly, and led Catalina into a slow dance that instantly perked her up. "You look smashing in gold."

"I could say the same for you, silver's really your colour." Jane giggled, and Catalina could've sworn that she saw Jane blushing at the compliment. Catalina wished that she could just kiss Jane right there and then, hell, the pink lipstick Jane had applied was tempting Catalina to simply abandon all decency and pull Jane into a make out session. "... You really look beautiful tonight."

"Hey Lina? Do you want to slip out for a breather?" Jane asked, her innocent offer hiding a personal agenda. Catalina didn't pick up on it, but agreed either way. She wouldn't pass up an opportunity to spend time alone with her crush, even though she knew that Jane would be nothing more than a crush. They left the gymnasium and headed for the school's greenhouse, which was thankfully still unlocked. They sat on a swing in the greenhouse, idly rocking it back and forth as they stared up at the cloudless night sky above them. "I have a confession to make."

"I'm pretty devoted to my religion, but I'm not holy enough to hear out your confession." Jane playfully swatted Catalina's shoulder, the latter sticking out her tongue in protest. "Okay look, _you_ set yourself up for that!"

"I know!" They both shared a hearty laugh, with Jane's grey eyes hardening afterwards. Catalina sensed that Jane was about to tell her something serious, and adopted a more sincere position. "... About your secret admirer..."

"Jane, I turned her down. Besides, I told you last week that I have someone else that I'm interested in."

"Parker was the one who had been writing all those letters right?" Catalina was surprised that Jane knew about it, but didn't say anything. For all she knew, Jane could've found out from the woman herself, or possibly Amalia. Jane sucked in a breath, steadying herself as she prepared to deliver her following words. "... What if I told you that you've gotten the wrong Jane?"

"Pardon?" Catalina blinked once, then twice. There were only two teachers that were called Jane, and that would be Jane Parker and Jane Seymour. Catalina thought about the revelation, if what Jane was implying was what she thought it was, it would mean that... "Hold on, but the letters are all in Jane's- you know what, I'm going to call her by her surname from now on. Parker wrote them, she even admitted it."

"I... got her to write the letters. Begged her to be more precise, she eventually caved in." Jane admitted, slicking her fringe back with her hand. Catalina noticed that Jane's eyes had tints of vulnerability in them, and that Jane was allowing herself to be afraid in front of her. "I didn't want you to instantly trace the letter back to me."

"Why not?"

"... I was afraid of getting rejected Lina. Until last week, I didn't know that you swing the other way. Plus... I wasn't sure how you felt about dating one of your ex's exes, especially one with a child."

"Believe it or not, I'm more open to the idea of dating all of Henry's exes at the same time than the man himself. He's a fucking prick who's completely abusive, misogynistic and many more reasons that would take me all day to list."

"I wholeheartedly agree with that summary." Jane replied, sighing deeply. She knew that Catalina disliked people who weren't able to confess with their identity out in the open, and was bracing herself for a stinging rejection as well as disappointment from Catalina. "... Honestly? I think I had a crush on you ever since my first day at teaching."

"That long?! I mean, I can relate but... wow."

"I kept bailing out of confessing though. I _did_ consider to just fuck everything, and confess regardless of your sexuality... but then I found out from Anne that you had Mary _and_ she was Henry's."

"Are you worried that two single mothers wouldn't work out in a relationship?"

"I... have no idea to be honest, but I think I managed to get over that until I found out that you've dated Arthur before."

"... Oh yikes, I'm so sorry I put you through all that emotional shit back then."

"It's alright, I'm fairly sure that I bounced back strangely quickly from that. What really destroyed my confidence was seeing you being so friendly with him, which reflecting upon it, it shows that I'm actually more of a jealous person than I thought."

"Believe it or not, I can sort of relate? There are times that I got jealous when you're hanging out with Ms Parr. I mean, you make coffee for her every day!"

"That's because she's a bloody fuck up if she doesn't get her morning coffee! Besides, she's dating Kitty!"

"Wait, what?!" How the hell did Catalina _not_ hear of this? Or rather, how did Anne even manage to keep her mouth shut about Katherine's and Catherine's relationship? "How did you-"

"Kitty's my cousin."

"She's your _what_?!"

"Didn't I mention it before? Oh wait, you were sick when I came out of the cousin closet..." Catalina groaned, she regretted taking medical leave on that day two years ago. She knew that she was fairly out of the loop when it came to her colleagues' lives, but not to the extent of not knowing that her crush was cousins with the most annoying friend she knew. "So yeah, I convinced Ms Parker to help me write all the letters while I attempt flirting with so that I can pretend that we're dating."

"That's... let me guess, Boleyn forced you to be active about your feelings?" Jane nodded sullenly, she couldn't turn down a dare in Truth Or Dare after all. Especially when your son was watching, Jane broke under her beloved son's wide innocent eyes and accepted the dare. "... That bitch! She knew about it from Day 1?!"

"I mean... _she's_ the one that pushed me into your classroom at six in the morning and watched as I placed the very first letter on your table..."

"I KNEW SHE WAS FUCKING SUS! WHY ELSE WOULD THAT BITCH BE UNABLE TO ZIP UP HER DAMN DRESS?!"

* * *

Anne sighed as she chugged down her punch with Arthur on her right and Jane Parker on her left, with Amalia joyfully holding her girlfriend's hand. She was waiting for her cousin to return with Catalina, but after an hour, she started to worry and was about to third-wheel whatever Jane and Catalina were doing had it not been for Arthur. She started pacing around the refreshments table, with the rest sighing at the sight.

"C'mon Anne, you did the best you could do. It's now up to them." Arthur reassured the French teacher, ever since he heard from Amalia about how Anne was trying to matchmake Jane and Catalina together, he was supporting them from the sidelines. Not that he wasn't to begin with, he was a fervent AraMour shipper after noticing how Catalina was an absolute disaster whenever she was around Jane. "Hey Jane P, say something to your sister."

"What I've learnt during my time as a sister-in-law is that Anne wouldn't listen when she's really worried about something. You should consider yourself fortunate that she doesn't call you at 3 am about it."

"This is why I always tell you to switch your phone off liebling. We both know that you're sick of her calling you at that hour while we're busy!" Amalia quipped, with Arthur raising an eyebrow at the comment. His cheeks were dusted red after realising what were they busy with at that hour, and coughed politely. "Really Art? I tell you about it every other day!"

"Yeah but... I don't think I need to hear about how Anne's cockblocking you two." Jane blushed, the discovery that Amalia (briefly) told Arthur about their sex life embarrassed her. Then again, her roommate Hans had also embarrassed her about it. Anne was chugging her eight cup of punch for that hour, and the rest wasn't sure if they should stop her or not. "Do you think we should find EB and ask if she could spy on them?"

"She's probably still busy with Joan in that supply room, how long have they been gone anyways?" Anne commented, about to pour herself her ninth cup when Jane prevented her from doing so. Arthur shrugged helplessly, while Amalia started counting off her fingers, eventually holding up three of them. "Three hours?! Why would anyone want to shag in a dusty supply room for three fucking hours?!"

"Mate, don't you know that they spend their time listening to music while holding hands when in private?" Anne shook her head, she fully expected Elizabeth and Joan to be engaging in activities that were inappropriate in school. Jane rolled her eyes, while Amalia giggled at Anne's thought process. Arthur was about to find the two women himself when said women entered the gymnasium while holding hands. "Oh my god, you ladies did it. AraMour is a thing."

"YES! I FUCKING _RULE_ AT THIS MATCHMAKING SHIT!" Anne cheered, with the rest getting out of the way after noticing the threatening look in Catalina's eyes. Jane simply have a smug smile on her face, fully anticipating the shit that could possibly unfurl. " _Finally_! Do you know how long I have to put up with you two eye-fucking each other?! Like seriously, it was cute at first but the pining got old after a while!"

"What I would like to know is why do you always like to stick your nose into people's personal matters?" Anne stopped her gushing, Catalina was seething mad at her and Anne realised why did her accomplices scatter the moment the new couple approached her. She glanced over Catalina's shoulder and silently pleaded for Jane to help her, with the later flipping her off in her usual cousinly fashion. "Sure, thanks to you I'm now dating Jane but-"

"That's all I needed to hear mate, I'm gonna leave you two to it while I observe the students! Yep yep, I'm _so_ responsible!" Anne knew she had to escape before Catalina spent the remaining time at prom to lecture her, and as such took advantage of her role as a chaperone to make a hasty exit. Jane chuckled as they witnessed Anne running to the furthest corner in the gymnasium, while Catalina huffed in irritation. "REMEMBER TO NOT MAKE OUT IN FRONT OF THE STUDENTS!"

"Don't worry Anne, only the other me does that with Mali!"


End file.
